General Tips for Selecting a Service Provider

When you are seeking services, the first step is to find a provider. There are essentially four ways to do this if you do not already know of a provider:

1. Do your own research. You can ask a friend, family member, counselor, attorney, or other trusted professional if they have a referral for the service you need. Use caution and careful research when selecting a provider from an online search.
2. Check with your healthcare providers for a referral. Many healthcare providers (such as Kaiser) maintain referral lists for their patients.
3. Use the 211 website. This agency provides free and confidential information and referral services to various non-profit and governmental service providers.
4. The Family Court maintains provider lists as a convenience to court users and has established certain criteria that the providers are expected to meet in order to be included on the list. The purpose of the criteria is to maintain professional standards among our community providers who self-certify that they meet the given standards. The court does not verify, approve, or monitor any of the listed providers. While the court makes provider lists available on its website, the choice of a provider is left up to the court user.

Regardless of which path you choose, below is a listing of the criteria your provider should meet, based on the specific service they offer. Talk to the provider to ask them about the following, as well as any of your own questions about their services, background, experience, etc.

For All Providers

• Confirm the provider offers the service you are seeking and will meet any requirements set by the court
• Confirm that the provider's location, hours, and fees work for you
• Ensure they provide services in the language you need
• Be certain you understand their cancellation policy and any limits to confidentiality
• The provider should be covered by professional malpractice insurance
• Refer to the "Criterion and Provider Contract for Inclusion" on Sacramento Superior Court Provider Lists

Mental Health Services

Selecting a mental health services provider is a very personal choice. At a minimum, make sure that the provider you choose is:

• Licensed in good standing. The websites of the Board of Behavioral Science (BBS), the California Board of Psychology, and the Medical Board of California allow consumers to verify the license status of the providers they oversee
• Willing to explain their approach to treatment
• Willing to examine your progress at intervals to determine if additional services are needed

Provider Lists

These lists are provided to assist parents in finding services that might be helpful to their family or to comply with court orders. The lists below include some of the providers that offer services that parents might need. Inclusion on these lists does not imply endorsement of the provider by the Court.

• Alcohol and Other Drug Services/ Genetic Testing
• Anger Management
• Co-Parenting Education
• Supervised Visitation
• Private Child Custody Recommending Counseling

These lists are offered solely as a service to parents. Family Court has not investigated or evaluated the competence or qualifications of the providers who are on these lists and does not endorse or recommend any provider. The information in each listing was self-reported by the individual provider, and Family Court makes no warranty or guarantee concerning its accuracy or reliability. Parents are encouraged to fully investigate the credentials of and methods employed by the providers to best determine if the provider will be a good match for their needs.

Information for Service Providers

The Sacramento Superior Court maintains lists of service providers for the benefit of parents. It is the goal of the court to provide parents with the most comprehensive list of qualified services possible. Towards this end, we encourage new providers to request inclusion on our lists.

Criteria for inclusion on our provider lists are contained in the Criterion and Provider Contract for Inclusion on Sacramento Superior Court Provider Lists. If you meet the criteria for inclusion on our lists, please complete and return the application to:

Sacramento Superior Court
William R. Ridgeway Family Relations Courthouse
Court Administration
3341 Power Inn Road, Room 318
Sacramento, CA 95826

Please note that standards for drug and genetic testing laboratories are not included in the Criterion and Provider Contract.

It is the responsibility of the provider to notify the court in writing of changes that render you ineligible for inclusion on one or more lists.

Providers will be listed by company name and will not be listed more than once on each list.

The provider lists are updated quarterly, on the first business day of February, May, August, and November. Please submit your new application or changes to Court Administration at the above address by the 25th of the month preceding the update month. Applications are valid for one year and must be resubmitted annually to remain on the list.

Thank you for your continued cooperation.

Complaint Procedure

Complaints are accepted only from persons or their attorneys who are a party to an action currently filed with the Sacramento County Superior Court. Complaints must be submitted in writing to the Family Law and Probate Division. Complaints may be hand-delivered or sent by first-class mail to 3341 Power Inn Road, Sacramento, CA 95826, Attn: Court Administration.

Persons making complaints should be aware that all information contained in the complaint may be made available to the provider. The complainant will not receive a response from the Superior Court, but we may contact you if we have questions. If the complainant wishes to bring the complaint to the attention of the Court as part of a court case, it is the complainant's responsibility (or the responsibility of his/her attorney) to file the necessary paperwork to have the matter heard before the Court.

Before submitting a complaint, please review this general information about the Resources for Court-Ordered Services lists:

• The court maintains provider lists for the convenience of our customers and does not recommend any individual provider.
• You are not required to use a provider from the court's list.
• The court does not supervise the providers on our lists and has no authority to take action against them, other than removal from our provider lists.
• Submitting a complaint is not an appeal for a review or reversal of Court orders that have been made in your case. Your complaint will not be placed in the court case file, nor will it affect the outcome of the court case.

If you wish to file a complaint, please include all of the following information:

1. Your complete name
2. Your daytime telephone number
3. Your case number
4. The name(s) of the individuals and/or agency with whom you have had contact
5. Date(s) when the action about which you are concerned happened, or the general timeframe if you cannot remember the exact date (i.e., within the last month)
6. Your specific complaint
7. Any other information that you think is important for us to know